After months of speculation, 29 year-old star Reese Witherspoon was given the award for Best Actress for her role in Walk the Line, about the life of Johnny Cash.
Witherspoon is said to have found singing in public for the part terrifying and made a heartfelt acceptance speech, paying tribute to June Cash saying "People used to ask June how she was doing, and she would say, 'I'M just trying to matter'. I know what she means."
Fans of the British contingent were thrilled to see Rachel Weisz accept her Oscar, as well as Nick Park for Wallace and Gromit, the Curse of the Were-Rabbit which beat Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride to the gong for Best Animated Feature. The animator collected his award with colleague Steve Box, producing miniature Oscars for the occasion and thanked production company Aardman Productions, before leaving the stage with a final 'Cracking cheese, Gromit'! | 
